8/26/2020 Update: This program is currently under review. Prior guidelines appear below for reference only. If interested, please email [email protected]. 

OVPR Grant Resubmission Award Program Guidelines
2019-2020 Academic Year

Deadline: No longer accepting applications
Apply via: UFunds
Award: Up to $15,000

About​
In recent years, funding for research has become increasingly competitive, with success rates for leading federal research agencies well below 20 percent. This means that many highly-rated proposals are not selected for funding, particularly on the first submission, calling for improvements to compete successfully in a subsequent round.

The OVPR Grant Resubmission Award program provides support for investigators without other discretionary resources to improve an already highly-rated proposal for re-submission. This is a pilot project, subject to demand and measured impact of the investments. While the primary goal of this program is to support large grants, we encourage individuals with highly rated but unfunded proposals of all sizes and in all disciplines to approach us.  The awards will be for up to $15,000 to support activities including data gathering, travel, equipment time, purchase of supplies or other modest activities that could make a significant difference for the competitiveness of the proposal.  For smaller grants, we would encourage investigators to ask for more modest amounts of support for resubmission.

Eligibility
Any Brown faculty member whose research is administered through Brown is eligible. Emeritus, adjunct, and visiting faculty, as well as post docs, are not eligible to lead projects, but may be included on the research team.

Amount and Duration of Awards
Awards are up to $15,000 and the project performance period will be from the time of award until the date of resubmission to the original grant mechanism, up to a one-year maximum. Requests for no-cost extensions may be granted with appropriate justification and must be submitted to the Vice President for Research two months prior to award expiration. Funds not expended by the completion date will be returned to OVPR.

Application Conditions
Full proposals* that received the following agency feedback within the previous two years are eligible**:

*For grant mechanisms that have a two-step review process, such as NSF core programs in the divisions of environmental biology and integrative organismal systems, pre-proposals that still require an agency invitation to full proposal are not eligible.

**If your proposal was the result of a limited submission process please consult first with OVPR staff at [email protected].

Grant Resubmission Award funds are meant to be a modest and narrowly targeted investment that could make a significant difference in the success of a specific resubmitted proposal. The funds may be used to support reasonable and necessary costs for the collection of research data or for proposal development during the project performance period.

Allowable expenses include but are not limited to:

• support for travel, supplies, or equipment time

• staff support

• postdoctoral candidate stipends

• full or partial stipends (but not tuition) for advanced graduate students who have completed their course work

• research stipends for undergraduate RAs (if undergraduate support included, an explanation of why the Brown UTRA program cannot support the stipend must be included)

• engagement of an external consultant

Please note:

• Expenditures for faculty salaries (either summer or academic year) and graduate student tuition are not permitted. The Graduate School will pay 100% tuition for students supported by OVPR internal funds in departments that report to the Dean of the Faculty. Tuition arrangements for BioMed graduate students supported by OVPR internal funds need to be approved through the BioMed Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in advance of submitting a GRA application.

• Award funds may not be used to reimburse expenses already incurred or expenses that will be incurred after the date of formal resubmission.

• If any portion of the external award would go to outside collaborator(s), financial contributions by collaborator(s) to proposed GRA work will be a positive factor in review.

• Please inform OVPR if, subsequent to either grant resubmission application or grant resubmission award, PI receives agency notification of funding or likelihood of funding of original proposal. In the event of external award prior to formal resubmission, PI must return unspent GRA funds to OVPR.

• Please refer to the Brown IP Policy for questions regarding intellectual property.

• If your project needs are more substantial, we encourage you to consider applying for Research Seed Funds or to contact OVPR staff to discuss other ways OVPR could assist you. 

Procedure for Submitting Proposals
Proposals for funding should be submitted electronically via UFunds. Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis. Selections will be announced as soon as possible but no later than one month after submission.

1. No more than two-page project description including: (Items a-f will be entered directly into UFunds.)

   1. PI and Co-PI names (specifying contact information for the PI), titles, and departments

   2. proposal title

   3. list of limitations in original application identified by sponsor reviewers and description of the work that would be completed through this award to address those limitations

   4. sponsor name and sponsor program to which the PI plans to re-apply

   5. timeline for planned resubmission, including the exact date of resubmission

   6. detailed timeline of resubmission work

   7. rough estimate of total budget for resubmission: direct and indirect costs for each budget year of the project and total for full project period.

2. A short (no more than two pages) list of references/bibliography may be appended but is not required. This will be uploaded as a pdf in UFunds.

3. A budget that itemizes general categories of expenses for which award funds will be used and a brief justification for these expenses. Note that as these are internal funds, overhead costs are not allowed. This will be entered directly into UFunds.

4. A copy of the original proposal. This will be uploaded as a pdf in UFunds.

5. A copy of the reviewer comments. This will be uploaded as a pdf in UFunds.

***All application materials will be kept confidential within OVPR.***

Criteria for Selection
The overall merit of the research project and the likelihood that funding will make the proposal more competitive will be considered and evaluated by the Vice President for Research (in consultation with faculty reviewers as needed). The final selection will be made based on the following criteria:

• potential for the award to provide a basis for a more competitive re-submission to external sponsors

• likelihood that the proposed work will be completed during the award period

• size and significance of the research award being sought

• rating of original submission

• potential impact of the research on the academic field of study

Highest priority is given to projects that would not be possible without the GRA  funding.

Assistance with Resubmission
The Office of Research Development within OVPR can provide advice and assistance with the resubmission of proposals. We encourage you to contact a research development staff person for your area to discuss the services the office could provide at 3-5145 or [email protected].

Reporting Requirements
Within 30 days of the end of the approved award period (date of resubmission to original grant mechanism), the recipient must provide to the Vice President for Research a final report. The report should outline the work that was accomplished and describe the proposal(s) submitted to external sponsor(s) as a result of this award, including proposal number. Within one year of the end of the approved award, the recipient must notify the Vice-President for Research of the final outcome of the resubmission.

Questions? Please contact: (401) 863-5145 or [email protected]